August 20, 2025

LAW AND GRACE DON’T COEXIST

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“And you, dear brothers and sisters, are children of the promise, just like Isaac. But you are now being persecuted by those who want you to keep the law, just as Ishmael, the child born by human effort, persecuted Isaac, the child born by the power of the Spirit. But what do the Scriptures say about that? ‘Get rid of the slave and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the free woman’s son.’ So, dear brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman; we are children of the free woman.”

Galatians 4:28–31 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

Paul’s message is clear: you can’t live under both law and grace at the same time. Throughout Galatians 4, he uses the story of Isaac and Ishmael to illustrate this truth.

Isaac’s birth was the result of God’s promise and the power of the Spirit, while Ishmael’s birth was the result of human effort. The tension between the two boys foreshadowed the conflict between law and grace. Ishmael mocked and persecuted Isaac, just as those who cling to legalism often oppose those who live in the freedom of grace. God’s instruction to Abraham— “Get rid of the slave woman and her son”—symbolizes that law and grace cannot coexist in the same covenant relationship with God.

Joseph Prince writes in “Grace Revolution”:

“The knowledge of good and evil never helped, saved, or transformed anyone. The law is the knowledge of good and evil. It is holy, just, and good, but it doesn’t give you the power to do the good and break out of the evil. Only the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness through Christ can give you the power to do the good you want to do and break free of the evil you don’t want to practice.”

Sadly, many in the church today still try to impose rules and regulations in the name of discipleship—dictating how much someone should pray or read the Bible, how they should dress, or what places they should avoid. While the original intent might be to help believers grow, it often creates a culture where following rules becomes the definition of serving God.

But what if, instead, we taught people to truly know God through the person and work of the Holy Spirit? What if we trusted the Spirit to bring conviction, transformation, and new desires in His perfect timing? Grace doesn’t make people careless about holiness—it empowers them to walk in it.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit, help me to be a person of grace. Open my heart to the fullness of Your grace and help me extend it to others. Free me from a judgmental spirit of legalism and teach me to trust You to transform hearts—including my own.

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